A motorist is shaken after a structure fell onto her car while her daughter was inside

A TERRIFIED motorist claims she was ‘inches from catastrophe’ after alleging that a mile marker from a running event toppled on to her car.

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Tasha Payne, who lives in Wokingham, says she was driving southbound along the A33 in Reading on the way to pick up her daughter who had competed in the Reading Half Marathon on Sunday, March 2.

Mrs Payne claims the 11ft tall wooden structure came loose and fell on to her car, cracking the windscreen and denting the body before falling into the road.

Mrs Payne said: “We were extremely frightened. I had my husband and my 11-year-old daughter in the car and it was very scary for them. I just felt the bang and didn’t know what was happening so I slammed on the brakes.

She added: “We were fortunate in many, many respects. There weren’t any spectators and there weren’t any cars behind us. It could’ve been catastrophic.”

Mrs Payne is now calling on sports company ICON World, which was contracted by race organisers Sweatshop to put up the sign, to pay for the repairs.

In a statement ICON World said: “We followed professional procedures and produced all relevant risk assessments in carrying out this work.

“A few weeks after the event, we received notification from the event organisers of a matter which had been reported to them by Mrs Payne which we are investigating.”

Gill Thomas, from Sweatshop added: “As soon as the incident was reported to us, the matter was referred to the contractor who has been investigating and liaising with the parties involved.

“We take health and safety at our events very seriously and we hope the matter will be resolved very soon.”

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